Eastbound ramp from downtown to be next Neches bridge closure

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, Photo Editor

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Very few sections still remain from the east bound lanes of the Purple Heart Bridge. Workers say the section will be completely removed and construction on the new lanes will push forward in late November. Some of the concrete columns are already in place to support the new lanes.
Photo taken Monday, October 07, 2013
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise less

Very few sections still remain from the east bound lanes of the Purple Heart Bridge. Workers say the section will be completely removed and construction on the new lanes will push forward in late November. Some ... more

Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, Photo Editor

Eastbound ramp from downtown to be next Neches bridge closure

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The Purple Heart Memorial Bridge over the Neches River will require more patience from eastbound motorists early next year, when the downtown on-ramp to Interstate 10 temporarily closes.

People headed to Vidor, Mauriceville, Orange and points east from downtown will have to get on I-10 at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

That detour will last for anywhere from six to eight weeks once it's begun, because the contractor, Williams Brothers, has incentives to meet specific deadlines, said Marc Shepherd, spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation.

The eastbound on-ramp work will have no effect on the westbound off-ramp from I-10 into downtown Beaumont, Shepherd said.

The temporary ramp closure will be the next noticeable milestone on the bridge reconstruction project, which is to replace both the eastbound and westbound segments of the bridge.

Currently, crews are demolishing the eastbound segment and rebuilding it. That has caused Interstate 10 traffic to squeeze into two eastbound lanes that are occupying the same bridge segment that carries the westbound lanes.

Demolition of the westbound segment will not take place until the eastbound segment is built. Then traffic will be moved onto those lanes in a reversal of the process.

The expected completion date is late 2015, and the project cost is $59 million.